Milwaukee Part 2

We continued our stay in Milwaukee and the trip ended up being a combination of work, dining out and shopping. On Monday, we ended up at a place called Brunch It Up, just because Kuochun liked the name. As big of a sweet tooth as I have, I normally steer away from sweet breakfasts and they had quite a few. I selected chorizo breakfast tacos because the menu said the housemade chorizo was their specialty. Kuochun chose shrimp and grits. It was a distant second choice, he had ordered something else but the server came back and said they did not have enough veggies to make the dish. Neither of us really cared for our meals and we would not go back there again. The server was very nice but the floor was messy so it made me wonder how the food preparation area was.

Because the restaurant was west of us, I decided to take a slightly different route back towards Milwaukee and go a bit south to Bluemound Road and swing by my grandparents' home in Wauwatosa. They moved to this home when Mother was 12 (1956) and lived there until they needed more care in the early 1990s. Thanks to my grandpa, we have SO many family photos of us in front of this door! I was pleased to see that the front exterior of the home looked good and pretty well cared for. The landscaping was nice, way better than my grandparents ever had it. They were never into decorating though, inside or outside! The home is unique in that the driveway runs along the right side graduating down to basement level and the two-car tandem garage is underneath the home and an entry door leads to the basement. Now at the bottom of the driveway, there is an unattractive plastic storage shed which kind of put a damper on the home's appearance. My grandpa never put anything in that area, it was important to keep it free of clutter so Mother, my uncle and later Rachel and I could sled down the driveway in the winter.

We forgot to bring pet steps with us and after not finding any at Petsmart or HomeGoods on Sunday, we went to Kohl's in nearby West Allis and actually found some. I did not know Kohl's had a small pet department. They only have two steps so they were kind of low but did the trick for the rest of our stay. Kuochun's car key was running low on battery so we stopped by Menards in the same shopping center to get a replacement. He asked me to change out the battery and to my horror, the entire car key fell apart and onto the ground, including each of the separate buttons which control lock, unlock and opening the trunk. I thought we were going to be stranded at Menards in 90 degree heat! Luckily the key still worked and we were able to get back to the Airbnb, where Kuochun figured out how to put it back together with the help of YouTube videos. I took the remainder of the day and evening to work, including Monday estate sale tasks and jewelry cleaning.

On Tuesday, I wanted to go to Manhattan Textiles which is just a few minutes away from the Airbnb. It was always a fabulous place to get upholstery and drapery fabric, better than anything in the Chicago area. I wanted to get fabric so Alfredo can recover my office chair. I purchased this cool vintage office chair with chrome arms and legs from Lucille Resale when I was having my home redecorated and the interior designer found the fabric I chose and had her upholsterer redo it. However although the fabric is cute, it did not hold up well on the arms and they are both worn all the way through. I am usually a fast decision-maker but after much deliberation, I went with a 4-yard remnant. It is quite similar to the cornice fabric in the room but I chose it because it should not wear through like the previous fabric. There were lots of fabrics that I loved at the store but they were either too thin or too thick. Francelia and Alfredo will pick up the chair the next time they are in the area. They are planning to go to Barrington sometime soon.

Kuochun was very interested in going to a seafood restaurant and I had mentioned St Paul Fish Company in the Milwaukee Public Market downtown. I have been there a couple of times and remember it being good. When I looked it up, I found that they now have a second location in Mequon. This is the city where Mother's cousin Mary Ann lived until she moved to Texas to be closer to her daughter. Mary Ann is like a sister to Mother and the closest thing I have ever had to an aunt. Dad was an only child and my uncle changed girlfriends (aka baby mamas) like he changed underwear. Anyway, I digress! We decided to go to Mequon since we would not have to worry about parking or the lunch crowd downtown. The decor of the restaurant was amazing! The photo above shows the amazing lighted metal shark sculpture, carved wood mermaid plaques and the vintage lobster trap light fixtures.

This mosaic was my favorite piece, so creative! If you look closely, you can see the little fish with a frowny face in the big fish's mouth and the bones of three more fish in his stomach. On to the food - Kuochun chose a baked cod dinner which came with a tiny portion of rice and a huge portion of vegetables. There was not a lot for me to choose from as I only do shrimp or fried calamari so I went with the shrimp po'boy with fries on the side. Kuochun wanted to try the fried calamari so that was really a lot of fried food for me. He loved the calamari but I thought it was too hard to chew. The po'boy was fine (but not as good as Station 34!) and at least the fries were not greasy. I only ate half, Kuochun did as well but he absolutely loved his meal. When we arrived, I noticed that there was a Mequon Public Market next door with sign graphics that matches Milwaukee's. However it was more of a food hall so we did not go. I thought we could travel another 14 minutes over to Cedarburg but Kuochun was feeling tired so back to the Airbnb we went. It was OK though because Tuesday is estate sale newsletter day and I wanted to get some more jewelry polished.

Kuochun was feeling better later in the evening so we decided to go to Kopp's Frozen Custard in nearby Brookfield and not miss out on my favorite Flavor Of The Day, Caramel Cashew. Even though another Milwaukee custard institution and the oldest fast food restaurant in town, Gillies' Frozen Custard is literally a few blocks down the street from my grandparents, I have been going to Kopp's at least since college. Back then, I would call the hotline to listen to a recording to find out the Flavor Of The Day. Just about every day I would call hoping it would be Caramel Cashew! Brookfield is a "newer" location so I always went to the south side spot in Greenfield. As you can see, Brookfield is a literal shrine to frozen custard!

In the earlier days, there was only one Flavor Of The Day and now there are two. They have the entire month's flavors on their website. Something special about Kopp's is they do not mix the specialty ingredients in until the custard is served. This is especially effective in the case of nuts, which go soggy if they are left in the custard too long. The other Flavor Of The Day Tuesday was Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, which was raspberry custard with chunks of cheesecake and a thin chocolate layer. I got one scoop of each and boy were they both delicious! I do not think I have ever had one of the cheesecake flavors before. Kuochun was a little ambitious and ordered Caramel Cashew in a waffle cone. The custard starts to melt immediately, I should have warned him. Even though I like cones, I do not get them at Kopps because it is too difficult to keep up with the melting custard. When you order a dish, they give you a triangular-shaped wedge made of cake cone material so you do not totally miss out. Sure enough, he could only eat half and had to toss the rest.

Before the custard, Kuochun had a hamburger and I had a grilled chicken sandwich. The sandwiches used to be the size of a dinner plate - they are a little smaller now but still the biggest around! The prices are still very reasonable too, my 2 scoops were only $3.50. The staff still dresses in their 1950s style uniforms - the ladies wear newsboy caps and the men wear paper hats. I have always said it is a good thing Kopp's never expanded to Chicago, I would be there almost every day!

On Wednesday we took a ride to Oconomowoc, where my parents had their home on Okauchee Lake for 25 years. Every once in a while I look up the home on Redfin. Since I knew we would be visiting, I looked it up and was shocked to see that Redfin's home value has gone up a cool $1 million since my parents sold it in 2012. We thought for sure at that value the original 1910 home had been torn down and a McMansion put in its place. But it turned out that the home is still intact, but now painted a navy blue color instead of the taupe color my parents had. The home is adorable but how amazing that the home they purchased for about $100,000 back in the day is now worth at least $1.6 million today. Location is everything!

After the home visit, I headed towards town and Fox Lake Country Antique Mall. It was great back in the day and is still just as great today! I am not in the market to buy anything these days unless it is some sort of jewelry prop but I found a little Mexican carved flower plaque that Mother has a little collection of in Scottsdale, a Mexican tin Christmas tree that she can display in her apartment for the holidays, a couple of rolls of decorative paper that I can use for jewelry photo backdrops and a real unicorn - this 1960s hand painted and bejeweled wood purse by Enid Collins with a money tree theme. I always told myself if I were to start a new collection it would be of these purses. They are adorable but really hard to find and especially in good condition. I have never had one at one of our estate sales nor have I ever seen one in the wild. The vendor actually had a second purse with a train locomotive theme but one of the flower petals was broken off.

The very helpful ladies at the antique mall tried to call the vendor to see if she could do better on the purse for me but could not reach her so we offered to go for lunch and then come back later if we could strike a deal. I had a couple of restaurants in mind but Kuochun asked the ladies for suggestions and they recommended Maxim's At Oconomowoc Depot. It has been a long time but we have been there before, the train depot was converted into a restaurant. One of the ladies said the desserts were amazing so I was willing to change the plans and go. They had chicken dumpling soup which was delicious, and totally loaded with chicken, spaetzle and celery. During the meal a freight train passed by which really added to the atmosphere. The meals were fine but they were not kidding about the dessert! Because Kuochun ordered an entree, we were able to get one dessert for 50% off. They have a variety of tortes every day and I chose Butterfinger. Wow was that fantastic and such a huge slice for only $3.00! I should have taken a photo of it but it was gone pretty quick. I would definitely go there and pick up some soup and desserts to go. This is not our photo but the case looked like this, except it was totally full! The tortes are on the top shelf and they are always making different flavors. 

After lunch, I wanted to stop by the "mall" across the way and check out Silver Eagle, the long-time Native American jewelry and art store. When my parents owned the lake home we were not really into Native American jewelry - I had been there before and passed by it many times but never purchased anything. The gentleman who used to visit the area from Scottsdale before I had the home there to sell me Native American jewelry also made Silver Eagle one of his stops. I did not find any jewelry to buy as it was all traditional style and not my cup of tea. I swung around the store to head out when I spotted these purses. I know I said I will never carry a purse again but these were so cute! Mother said she wanted something with fringe so I chose the black one for myself and the neutral greenish color for Mother. The taupe was really pretty too. They are handmade and vegan leather and only $60 which I thought was a great price for all that work. The purse can be carried by the ring or placed on the arm, making it hands free. I think I am going to have someone (either the silversmith here or in Scottsdale) attach a turquoise stone in a setting to the center front, I think it would elevate the purse even more.

Also in the mall is a new to me mid-century modern furniture and decor store called Beyond Vintage Furnishings. I was really surprised to see such a cool store in this area. I had done some research prior to our trip and became aware of the store at that time. I had seen this table and chairs on their Facebook page, the posting was made back in January. I said I am not in the market to purchase anything right now but this is the exact thing I wanted for Scottsdale. The setup there is unconventional right now as I have a mid-century modern walnut desk and credenza in the dining area that I rescued from the basement of a past sale in Elgin, sent it to Scottsdale and had it restored there. It turned out amazing and it is a great place to work and view the outdoor patio and glimpse of Camelback Mountain. However we no longer have a place to dine - when Mother was with us she used a TV table at the sofa in the family room area and Kuochun did the same in the living room. I used my desk. I never thought this set would still be available after 6+ months but sure enough it was! Unfortunately the store is only open on weekends and other days by appointment. I gave the owner a call and we were able to set an appointment for Thursday morning. It was backtracking for us and we had to bring the girls along because our stay at the Airbnb was over but Kuochun was a good sport. He stayed in the car with the girls while I ran into the store. It was pricey but so beautiful in person and a major plus is that the pieces are all walnut to match my other furniture! The table is by Gordon & Jane Martz and their pieces are $$$$ online. The owner was very nice and personable and said the Martz's never made dining tables, they were most known for table lamps and coffee tables. The chairs are by another designer but they look perfect with it. I made the purchase and the owner is going to coordinate shipping to Scottsdale for me. He has a warehouse in nearby Waukesha so he will kindly keep it there until he can get the best deal on shipping. Luckily the table legs simply unscrew so that will help save space on the truck and minimize the cost. Kuochun was surprisingly very on board with it and we both look forward to have a place to eat meals. It will fit perfectly in the empty space between the kitchen and work area. I asked the owner if there was a call for MCM in the Lake Country area because I always knew it to be very traditional. He said it works well because he is halfway between Madison and Milwaukee which makes total sense. And he said MCM is catching on in the Oconomowoc area!

I would have wanted to check out the rest of downtown Oconomowoc when we were there the first time but it was too hot to walk around. On the way home, we went to the Brat Stop which was not the same as dining in. Since we had the girls in the car, we had to carry out and it was too hot to eat at the picnic table outside so we ate in the car. It was not worth it.

Even though there was a lot of estate sale work to do, while we were gone I was still able to polish a ton of jewelry. I did price some of it as well - we did bring the full-size computer but I did not bring the label printer. I was only able to price jewelry that goes on cards. It is a great combination of more budget-friendly deals, rings and beautiful interesting pieces. Overall I was very pleased with the amount of work I was able to accomplish while still finding time to do a few fun things.

We would like to go back to Milwaukee again but not in the middle of summer. I am not sure now about going to this same Airbnb again. I wrote a beautiful public review and sent the host a personal message about how much the visit to Milwaukee meant to me. I gave everything a 5-star rating except I gave the value a 4. The home was very nice but thought the rate was pricey for a modest Milwaukee neighborhood. I appreciated the two single serving size bottles of water in the refrigerator to tide us over until we could get to the store but some quality treats would have helped a lot with the overall value. Nothing was provided. Also, I think we were charged a pet fee which was called a non-refundable deposit but the fee was not itemized. I could see charging a deposit which would be returned if the pets did not do any damage but not a non-refundable one. Our girls bark but do not shed, do not smell or cause any problems - when we leave no one would ever know two pets were there. There was a very barky dog next door, he barked inside and outside, way more than the girls ever could. The host wrote me after the reviews were published and asked me why I left the 4-star rating on value. I think it was annoying to ask and I will not take the time to explain as I already put more time and effort into the review than most.

My Vendoo deadline for using the 25 listings on my monthly plan is overnight on the third of the month so right when we came back I needed to at least make the 25 drafts so I would not lose the listings I paid for. It was a spur of the moment decision but I decided to start work on this year's Federico collection. I chose 25 items and was able to write up all of the drafts before the deadline. This will really put a dent in the pieces I purchased this year. Over the weekend I was able to shoot the photos and post 14 of the 25 drafts. On my last purchase of cowhide and leather jewelry backdrops, the seller informed me that two of my selections were out of stock. I ended up choosing this turquoise tooled leather backdrop as well as the same pattern in a rosy pink color as replacements. I had been avoiding the leather as one of the pieces I purchased previously had a shiny finish which did not reflect well in my photos. I was so happy with the way this backdrop turned out on this photo that I ordered the same pattern in six more colors. Three of them look like the same matte finish but the other three seem to have a slight shine to them. The seller was having a sale so I decided to give them a try and in the worst case I can always resell the shiny ones if they do not work. I do have some pieces that I loved but they did not make for good photos so I will plan to resell them. These pieces of leather and cowhide are great quality and are perfect for craft projects of all sorts like purses, wallets, keychains, earrings and more. I have found that allover patterns work best for my purpose.

Next week it will be back to a full schedule of estate sale paperwork so I will not have as much time to work on the jewelry but I do plan on finishing up the remaining drafts from last month and at least set up new drafts for the remaining Federico 2024 pieces. I would like to get the C'est La Brie's newsletter going as well - with helping Mother so much this year it fell by the wayside but hopefully I can at least do a newsletter every other week.

Until next time!